Useful items

Generally, home mortgage interest is any interest you pay on a loan secured by your home (main home or a second home). The loan may be a mortgage to buy your home, a second mortgage, a line of credit, or a home equity loan.

You can deduct home mortgage interest if all the following conditions are met.

You file Form 1040 and itemize deductions on Schedule A (Form
1040).

The mortgage is a secured debt on a qualified home in which you have an ownership interest. (Generally, your mortgage is a secured debt if you put your home up as collateral to protect the interest of the lender. The term "qualified home" means your main home or second home. For details, see Publication
936.)

If all of your mortgages fit into one or more of the following three categories at all times during the year, you can deduct all of the interest on those mortgages. (If any one mortgage fits into more than one category, add the debt that fits in each category to your other debt in the same
category.)

The three categories are as follows:

Mortgages you took out on or before October 13, 1987 (called grandfathered debt).

Mortgages you took out after October 13, 1987, to buy, build, or improve your home (called home acquisition debt), but only if throughout 2014 these mortgages plus any grandfathered debt totaled $1 million or less ($500,000 or less if married filing separately).

Mortgages you took out after October 13, 1987, other than to buy, build, or improve your home (called home equity debt), but only if throughout 2014 these mortgages totaled $100,000 or less ($50,000 or less if married filing separately) and totaled no more than the fair market value of your home reduced by (1) and (2).

The dollar limits for the second and third categories apply to the combined mortgages on your main home and second home.

See
Part II
of Publication
936
for more detailed definitions of grandfathered, home acquisition, and home
equity debt.

You can use
Figure 23-A to check whether your home mortgage interest is fully deductible.

You cannot fully deduct interest on a mortgage that does not fit into any of the three categories listed earlier. If this applies to you, see
Part II
of Publication
936 to figure the amount of interest you can deduct.

If you pay off your home mortgage early, you may have to pay a penalty. You can deduct that penalty as home mortgage interest provided the penalty is not for a specific service performed or cost incurred in connection with your mortgage loan.

John and Peggy Harris sold their home on May 7. Through April 30, they made home mortgage interest payments of $1,220. The settlement sheet for the sale of the home showed $50 interest for the 6-day period in May up to, but not including, the date of sale. Their mortgage interest deduction is $1,270 ($1,220 +
$50).

If you pay interest in advance for a period that goes beyond the end of the tax year, you must spread this interest over the tax years to which it applies. You can deduct in each year only the interest that qualifies as home mortgage interest for that year. However, there is an exception that applies to points, discussed later.

You may be able to claim a mortgage interest credit if you were issued a mortgage credit certificate (MCC) by a state or local government. Figure the credit on Form 8396, Mortgage Interest Credit. If you take this credit, you must reduce your mortgage interest deduction by the amount of the
credit.

You can use a special method to compute your deduction for mortgage interest and real estate taxes on your main home if you meet the following two
conditions.

You received assistance under:

A State Housing Finance Agency (State HFA) Hardest Hit Fund program in which program payments could be used to pay mortgage interest,
or

An Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) or a
state.

You meet the rules to deduct all of the mortgage interest on your loan and all of the real estate taxes on your main
home.

If you meet these tests, then you can deduct all of the payments you actually made during the year to your mortgage servicer, the State HFA, or HUD on the home mortgage (including the amount shown on box 3 of Form 1098-MA, Mortgage Assistance Payments), but not more than the sum of the amounts shown on Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement, in box 1 (mortgage interest received from payer(s)/borrower(s)) and box 4 (real property taxes). However, you are not required to use this special method to compute your deduction for mortgage interest and real estate taxes on your main
home.

Mortgage assistance payments under section 235 of the National Housing
Act.(p153)

If you qualify for mortgage assistance payments for lower-income families under section 235 of the National Housing Act, part or all of the interest on your mortgage may be paid for you. You cannot deduct the interest that is paid for you.

If a divorce or separation agreement requires you or your spouse or former spouse to pay home mortgage interest on a home owned by both of you, the payment of interest may be alimony. See the discussion of
Payments for jointly-owned home in chapter 18.

A reverse mortgage is a loan where the lender pays you (in a lump sum, a monthly advance, a line of credit, or a combination of all three) while you continue to live in your home. With a reverse mortgage, you retain title to your home. Depending on the plan, your reverse mortgage becomes due with interest when you move, sell your home, reach the end of a pre-selected loan period, or die. Because reverse mortgages are considered loan advances and not income, the amount you receive is not taxable. Any interest (including original issue discount) accrued on a reverse mortgage is not deductible until the loan is paid in full. Your deduction may be limited because a reverse mortgage loan generally is subject to the limit on
Home Equity Debt discussed in Publication 936.

If you live in a house before final settlement on the purchase, any payments you make for that period are rent and not interest. This is true even if the settlement papers call them interest. You cannot deduct these payments as home mortgage interest.

You cannot deduct the home mortgage interest on grandfathered debt or home equity debt if you used the proceeds of the mortgage to buy securities or certificates that produce tax-free income. "Grandfathered debt" and "home equity debt" are defined earlier under
Amount Deductible.

If you receive a refund of interest in the same tax year you paid it, you must reduce your interest expense by the amount refunded to you. If you receive a refund of interest you deducted in an earlier year, you generally must include the refund in income in the year you receive it. However, you need to include it only up to the amount of the deduction that reduced your tax in the earlier year. This is true whether the interest overcharge was refunded to you or was used to reduce the outstanding principal on your
mortgage.

If you received a refund of interest you overpaid in an earlier year, you generally will receive a Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement, showing the refund in box 3. For information about Form 1098, see
Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement, later.

For more information on how to treat refunds of interest deducted in earlier years, see
Recoveries in chapter 12.

The term "points" is used to describe certain charges paid, or treated as paid, by a borrower to obtain a home mortgage. Points may also be called loan origination fees, maximum loan charges, loan discount, or discount points.

A borrower is treated as paying any points that a home seller pays for the borrower's mortgage. See
Points paid by the seller, later.

You generally cannot deduct the full amount of points in the year paid. Because they are prepaid interest, you generally deduct them ratably over the life (term) of the mortgage. See
Deduction Allowed Ratably, next.

If you do not meet the tests listed under
Deduction Allowed in Year Paid, later, the loan is not a home improvement loan, or you choose not to deduct your points in full in the year paid, you can deduct the points ratably (equally) over the life of the loan if you meet all the following
tests.

You use the cash method of accounting. This means you report income in the year you receive it and deduct expenses in the year you pay them. Most individuals use this
method.

Your loan is secured by a home. (The home does not need to be your main
home.)

Your loan period is not more than 30 years.

If your loan period is more than 10 years, the terms of your loan are the same as other loans offered in your area for the same or longer
period.

Either your loan amount is $250,000 or less, or the number of points is not more
than:

You can fully deduct points in the year paid if you meet all the following tests. (You can use
Figure 23-B
as a quick guide to see whether your points are fully deductible in the year
paid.)

Your loan is secured by your main home. (Your main home is the one you ordinarily live in most of the
time.)

Paying points is an established business practice in the area where the loan was
made.

The points paid were not more than the points generally charged in that
area.

You use the cash method of accounting. This means you report income in the year you receive it and deduct expenses in the year you pay them. (If you want more information about this method, see
Accounting Methods in chapter 1.)

The points were not paid in place of amounts that ordinarily are stated separately on the settlement statement, such as appraisal fees, inspection fees, title fees, attorney fees, and property
taxes.

The funds you provided at or before closing, plus any points the seller paid, were at least as much as the points charged. The funds you provided are not required to have been applied to the points. They can include a down payment, an escrow deposit, earnest money, and other funds you paid at or before closing for any purpose. You cannot have borrowed these funds from your lender or mortgage
broker.

You use your loan to buy or build your main home.

The points were computed as a percentage of the principal amount of the
mortgage.

The amount is clearly shown on the settlement statement (such as the Settlement Statement, Form HUD-1) as points charged for the mortgage. The points may be shown as paid from either your funds or the
seller's.

Generally, points you pay to refinance a mortgage are not deductible in full in the year you pay them. This is true even if the new mortgage is secured by your main
home.

However, if you use part of the refinanced mortgage proceeds to improve your main home and you meet the first 6 tests listed under
Deduction Allowed in Year Paid, earlier, you can fully deduct the part of the points related to the improvement in the year you paid them with your own funds. You can deduct the rest of the points over the life of the loan.

In 1999, Bill Fields got a mortgage to buy a home. In 2014, Bill refinanced that mortgage with a 15-year $100,000 mortgage loan. The mortgage is secured by his home. To get the new loan, he had to pay three points ($3,000). Two points ($2,000) were for prepaid interest, and one point ($1,000) was charged for services, in place of amounts that ordinarily are stated separately on the settlement statement. Bill paid the points out of his private funds, rather than out of the proceeds of the new loan. The payment of points is an established practice in the area, and the points charged are not more than the amount generally charged there. Bill's first payment on the new loan was due July 1. He made six payments on the loan in 2014 and is a cash basis
taxpayer.

Bill used the funds from the new mortgage to repay his existing mortgage. Although the new mortgage loan was for Bill's continued ownership of his main home, it was not for the purchase or improvement of that home. He cannot deduct all of the points in 2014. He can deduct two points ($2,000) ratably over the life of the loan. He deducts $67 [($2,000 ÷ 180 months) × 6 payments] of the points in 2014. The other point ($1,000) was a fee for services and is not
deductible.

The facts are the same as in
Example 1,
except that Bill used $25,000 of the loan proceeds to improve his home and $75,000 to repay his existing mortgage. Bill deducts 25% ($25,000 ÷ $100,000) of the points ($2,000) in 2014. His deduction is $500 ($2,000 ×
25%).

Bill also deducts the ratable part of the remaining $1,500 ($2,000 − $500) that must be spread over the life of the loan. This is $50 [($1,500 ÷ 180 months) × 6 payments] in 2014. The total amount Bill deducts in 2014 is $550 ($500 +
$50).

If you do not qualify to either deduct the points in the year paid or deduct them ratably over the life of the loan, or if you choose not to use either of these methods, the points reduce the issue price of the loan. This reduction results in original issue discount, which is discussed in chapter 4 of Publication
535.

The buyer reduces the basis of the home by the amount of the seller-paid points and treats the points as if he or she had paid them. If all the tests under
Deduction Allowed in Year Paid, earlier, are met, the buyer can deduct the points in the year paid. If any of those tests are not met, the buyer deducts the points over the life of the loan.

If you meet all the tests in
Deduction Allowed in Year Paid, earlier, except that the funds you provided were less than the points charged to you (test (6)), you can deduct the points in the year paid, up to the amount of funds you provided. In addition, you can deduct any points paid by the seller.

When you took out a $100,000 mortgage loan to buy your home in December, you were charged one point ($1,000). You meet all the tests for deducting points in the year paid, except the only funds you provided were a $750 down payment. Of the $1,000 charged for points, you can deduct $750 in the year paid. You spread the remaining $250 over the life of the
mortgage.

The facts are the same as in
Example 1,
except that the person who sold you your home also paid one point ($1,000) to help you get your mortgage. In the year paid, you can deduct $1,750 ($750 of the amount you were charged plus the $1,000 paid by the seller). You spread the remaining $250 over the life of the mortgage. You must reduce the basis of your home by the $1,000 paid by the
seller.

If you meet all the tests in
Deduction Allowed in Year Paid, earlier, except that the points paid were more than generally paid in your area (test (3)), you deduct in the year paid only the points that are generally charged. You must spread any additional points over the life of the mortgage.

If you spread your deduction for points over the life of the mortgage, you can deduct any remaining balance in the year the mortgage ends. However, if you refinance the mortgage with the same lender, you cannot deduct any remaining balance of spread points. Instead, deduct the remaining balance over the term of the new loan.

A mortgage may end early due to a prepayment, refinancing, foreclosure, or similar event.

If you paid $600 or more of mortgage interest (including certain points) during the year on any one mortgage, you generally will receive a Form 1098 or a similar statement from the mortgage holder. You will receive the statement if you pay interest to a person (including a financial institution or a cooperative housing corporation) in the course of that person's trade or business. A governmental unit is a person for purposes of furnishing the statement.

The statement for each year should be sent to you by January 31 of the following year. A copy of this form will also be sent to the IRS.

The statement will show the total interest you paid during the year and if you purchased a main home during the year, it also will show the deductible points paid during the year, including seller-paid points. However, it should not show any interest that was paid for you by a government agency.

As a general rule, Form 1098 will include only points that you can fully deduct in the year paid. However, certain points not included on Form 1098 also may be deductible, either in the year paid or over the life of the loan. See
Points, earlier, to determine whether you can deduct points not shown on Form 1098.

If you prepaid interest in 2014 that accrued in full by January 15, 2015, this prepaid interest may be included in box 1 of Form 1098. However, you cannot deduct the prepaid amount for January 2015 in 2014. (See
Prepaid interest, earlier.) You will have to figure the interest that accrued for 2015 and subtract it from the amount in box 1. You will include the interest for January 2015 with the other interest you pay for 2015. See
How To Report, later.